Effective Logo Design Advice | Photography is a visual industry, and a creative one at that! And with that comes the challenge of standing out – you need to ensure all your branding and marketing efforts showcase your unique style, visual identity and creative vision, all of which comes down to a seemingly simple, small, yet incredibly important graphic – your logo! Having a well-designed logo is more important than you might think – it’s the face of your business, the backbone of your entire brand, and it will affect the all-important first impression.

We’ve been designing logos for photographers just like you for over ten years, and each time we start working on a new project, the very first thing we ask ourselves is “What will makes this logo POP?” The answer, it turns out, is not that complicated. There are actually a few things all effective logos have in common, so whether you’re having your logo designed by a professional, or taking a crack at it yourself, here are the things you need to pay attention to!

Include The Name Of Your Business | Effective Logo Design Advice

Photographers usually take two routes when naming their businesses – they either use their own name and add the word “photography,” or they come up with a unique name. Whichever way you go, make sure you include the name of your business in your logo. At the end of the day, your logo is a representation of your business, a simple aid for your potential clients to remember you and your business. We know what you’re thinking – there are companies like Twitter and Starbucks that are using only a graphic for their logo.

This is because they’ve been in business for years now and they already spent millions of dollars on marketing and branding efforts to raise the awareness before dropping the name. Chances are, you don’t have that kind of a budget just yet, so it’s best to stick with your name until you grow awareness. You’ll also want to make sure the name is actually readable – so find a simple font that can be easily read in pretty much any size.

Be Original | Effective Logo Design Advice

There are many photographers out there with comparable skills and even more expensive equipment, so what the success in the photography industry comes down to is standing out. Start with your logo! The last thing you want is to have your logo mistaken for a logo of a competitor, which is why you’ll want to stay away from the cheap logo templates you can find online. How is your logo supposed to stand out if it’s exactly the same as the countless other logos in your particular niche or area? Rather than following the herd and using a cliché design, you should instead strive for something that is uniquely recognizable.

Add Some Color, But Don’t Rely On It Too Much | Effective Logo Design Advice

Each time we start sketching logo ideas for a client, we do it in black. This way we can focus on the actual shape of the logo without getting distracted by color. It is only when we’re completely satisfied with the look and feel of the black version of the logo do we proceed to adding the color, which ensures complete versatility. Think about it: your logo will be used in a myriad of ways throughout its life cycle, and some of the applications will have severe restrictions, so you’ll want to make sure your logo is just as effective even when the color is removed.

Simple Is Better | Effective Logo Design Advice

One of the most common mistakes many business owners make when having a logo designed is adding countless elements and effects in order to make sure their logos stand out from the sea of identities already out there. However, this can actually do more damage than good – complex logos are not only difficult to remember and recognize, but they’re actually difficult to use, especially when scaled down to a smaller size. A complex logo might look stunning on a computer screen, but when actually printed on a business card, it can turn into an unrecognizable smudge. When it comes to logo design, less is definitely more!

Raster files are built up of small squares called pixels. This means that as you increase the size of your image, it will become blocky, or appear to be blurred. Unlike raster images, vector files will allow you to scale your logo to pretty much any size, big or small, without affecting the quality. Even though you don’t need to blow up your logo to the size of a billboard just yet, you never know when you’re going to need to, so make sure you’re using vectors from the get-go.

Another thing you’ll need to keep in mind is that all the applications will have other limitations as well, including the shape, so you’ll want to be prepared. To make our designs look great, no matter the circumstances, if the design allows it, we provide our clients with the logo in different lockups. A lockup is simply a different layout configuration, so for example, if you have both the typographic element such as the name of your business, and an icon, you can prepare two different versions: a long/thin version with the icon to the left of the text, and another with the icon above the text.

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Testimonials

I had been following Media Novak’s work for a while now and was always impressed with their logo work. The logo designs they came up with based on my wishes for what I wanted it to look like were above and beyond what I had imagined. The process itself was smooth and so easy. I gave input and they took it on board and applied it to the next design. I would highly recommend them any day!

Chantal Lachance-Gibson Photography

I cannot begin to say enough about Mark & the team at Media Novak. Their customer service has been TOP NOTCH! They have gone way beyond my expectations and dreams and have put together a website for me that I am so proud of… I actually can’t believe that it’s mine! If you are looking for a new website or new branding then look no further… contact these guys today!

Myrick Cowart – Photographer

Thank you thank you thank you! I really appreciate all of your help and your quick replies and editing, and well, everything. I will DEFINITELY be referring your team! I love my new logo and I love that it is completely my own and completely encompasses my brand. I really appreciate all of the time and effort your team has put into this project. Thank you again and again!

Bethany Petersen – Photographer

I decided to hire Media Novak after seeing a friends logo that I really liked. I sent them my ideas but I actually preferred one of their original concepts over my own ideas! They really understood the look and feel I was trying to achieve and I am delighted with my new logo! I found the process to be really enjoyable and smooth and emails were answered very quickly… a big thumbs up from me!

Karen McGowran – Photographer

Media Novak were helpful and listened to me as the client… never once tried to push their likes onto me… but they do offer good advice. I think what has mattered most to me was once we went live, they were very much still around to iron out little problems that only became noticeable to myself with the daily running of a website and a blog! I would highly recommend them to other businesses!

Jo-Ann Stokes – Photographer

Media Novak designed a beautiful website for me and I’m very satisfied with it. They listened to what I wanted and tailored the site to fit me and I really appreciate that. Their prices are reasonable and the quality is fantastic. I would highly recommend this company.

About Us

MediaNovak is a creative design agency that specializes in web design, online marketing, graphic design and corporate identity solutions. We started our company with some basic ideals—offer our customers exceptional design, while delivering a positive customer experience.

These ideals have helped grow our business and drive customers to our door. A majority of our business comes simply from “word of mouth” referrals—one customer telling another of the experience that we offer here. We consider this the ultimate compliment.